Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik

Open Access Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg

Volume 242 Issue 3

Issue of Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik

Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available June 16, 2022

Original Articles

April 20, 2022

The Untold Story of Midijobs

Anna Herget, Regina T. Riphahn

Page range: 309-341

Abstract

Midijobs are employment relationships with moderate monthly earnings that benefit from payroll tax subsidies. Since 2003, the subsidy is universally available for all regions, industries, individuals, and employers in Germany. Recently, more than 2.9 million individuals, i.e., almost 9 percent of the German labor force covered by the social security system took advantage of Midijobs. This paper describes the program, its motivation, and utilization over time. We characterize the labor market transitions leading into and out of Midijob employment, the duration of Midijob utilization, and compare recent developments with patterns of program utilization that were observed early on.

April 20, 2022

Does Variable Shift Work Explain Away Productivity Shocks? A Bayesian Approach

Lucas M. Engelhardt

Page range: 343-369

Abstract

In business cycle accounting, productivity is procyclical. However, this may be an illusion caused by improperly accounting for changes in procyclical capital utilization. This paper considers to what extent incorporating variable shift work into a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model reduces the role played by productivity shocks in explaining variations in output. In the one shift version of the model, 81 percent of the variation in output is explained by productivity shocks. With variable shift work, the contribution falls to a minimum of 48 percent. While variable shift work decreases their importance, productivity shocks continue to be the most significant contributor to the variation of output over the business cycle.

May 12, 2022

How Does a “Green” Good Affect Environmental Quality and Social Welfare?

Anja Brumme

Page range: 371-401

Abstract

In this paper an impure public good model is applied to analyze the effects of introducing a green good, i.e. a consumption good that contributes to preservation of environmental quality. I distinguish three types of consumers: “grays”, who consume the green good and a private good; “greens”, who consume the green good and make additional donations to environmental organizations; and “edge” consumers, who consume only the green good. With respect to environmental quality I find that the gap between voluntary provision and optimal provision is unaffected by the introduction of the green good, no matter if consumers are gray or green. However, in the case of gray agents environmental quality is improved in absolute terms after the green good has been launched whereas it remains at the same level as before if consumers are green. The effect of the green good on the social welfare gap is more likely to be beneficial if agents are gray. The gaps with respect to environmental quality and social welfare are both closed if the agents are edge consumers.

Data Observer

Publicly Available November 3, 2021

The Swiss Household Panel (SHP)

Robin Tillmann, Marieke Voorpostel, Erika Antal, Nora Dasoki, Hannah Klaas, Ursina Kuhn, Florence Lebert, Gian-Andrea Monsch, Valérie-Anne Ryser

Page range: 403-420

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Abstract

Collecting data on households and individuals since 1999, the Swiss Household Panel (SHP) is an ongoing, unique, large-scale, nationally representative, longitudinal study in Switzerland ( N = 9828 households and N = 15,882 persons interviewed in 2020). The SHP aims to provide both continuity and innovation in measurement and data collection. Examples of innovation are the combination of retrospective and prospective longitudinal data, the combination of survey modes notably in refreshment samples and additional studies oversampling specific population groups. This article provides an overview of the SHP – focusing on the survey’s key design features, content, data collection and adjustments, possibilities for cross-national comparisons, data use and accomplishments.

Publicly Available June 16, 2022

Establishments in the Covid-19-Crisis (BeCovid): A High-Frequency Establishment Survey to Monitor the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Lutz Bellmann, Patrick Gleiser, Sophie Hensgen, Christian Kagerl, Ute Leber, Duncan Roth, Matthias Umkehrer, Jens Stegmaier

Page range: 421-431

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Abstract

The high-frequency establishment survey “Establishments in the Covid-19-Crisis” (BeCovid) started in 2020 and continued until June 2022 to collect monthly data on how businesses in Germany adjusted to the challenges of the pandemic. This article describes the survey design and provides an overview over the topics covered. We further outline the survey’s research potentials, particularly when linked to administrative records.

About this journal

The Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik) is a scientific journal published in Germany since 1863. The journal publishes papers in all fields of economics and applied statistics. A specific focus is on papers combining theory with empirical analyses. Papers providing conclusions for economic policy in Europe are particularly welcome. Nevertheless, distinguished papers dealing exlusively with economic theory, empirical models, or economic history, will not be excluded from consideration.

The editors invite replication studies focusing on the robustness of empirical findings. The section Data Observer presents articles on data sets available for empirical research and institutions providing research data. The journal also publishes special issues, short comments, and book reviews. All freely accessible contributions, including the Data Observer articles, can be found via the website's article search functionality.

Journal of Economics and Statistics now also at Twitter.

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Starting 2023, the Journal of Economics and Statistics will be transferred to Diamond Open Access on a year-by-year basis. All articles will thus immediately appear under the Creative Commons license CC-BY. There will be no publication costs for the authors.
The Open Access transformation is based on Subscribe-to-Open, an alternative model that enables the full Open Access transformation of journals through the continuation of existing subscriptions. The prerequisite for successful transformation is that subscriptions are continued to the same extent as before. The editors of the Journal of Economics and Statistics and the publisher De Gruyter would therefore like to thank all subscribers for their support, which has made the transformation to Open Access possible.

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Call for Papers

Special Issue on "Sports Economics"

Guest Editors: Bernd Frick, Paderborn University; Thomas Peeters, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Rob Simmons, Lancaster University

Timeline: Submission of full papers November 30, 2023

Further details

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Special Issue on "Advancing Agent-Based Economics"

Guest Editors: Michael Neugart, Technical University of Darmstadt) and Frank Westerhoff, University of Bamberg

Timeline: Submission of full papers December 31, 2023

Further details

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Special Issue on "Central Bank Digital Currency"

Guest Editors: Katrin Assenmacher, European Central Bank and Michael Frenkel, WHU

Timeline: Submission of full papers January 08, 2024

Further details

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Volume 242 Issue 3

Issue of Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik

Frontmatter

The Untold Story of Midijobs

Abstract

Does Variable Shift Work Explain Away Productivity Shocks? A Bayesian Approach

Abstract

How Does a “Green” Good Affect Environmental Quality and Social Welfare?

Abstract

The Swiss Household Panel (SHP)

Abstract

Establishments in the Covid-19-Crisis (BeCovid): A High-Frequency Establishment Survey to Monitor the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract